Sony Terminates Sales of Monitors in Europe

by Anton Shilov
10/09/2006 | 11:50 PM

Sony Corp., a major maker of consumer electronics, will quit the market of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) totally in several months time. After abandoning Japanese and North American LCD markets, the company has similar plans for the European markets due to low profit margins and general weakness of its LCD business among consumers.

An official spokesman for Sony in Europe is reported to have told Heise Online web-site that the company would introduce several new G-series LCD models this year, but the last shipments would occur in December, 2006. Earlier it was reported that Sony would quit LCD monitor business in Japan and in North America starting from October, 2006, and to cease LCD supplies to other regions in 2007.

Quitting LCD monitor business seems to be inline with the company’s strategy to withdraw from highly-competitive businesses the company does not have obvious success in. For example, Sony has exited plasma panel television and is scrapping its Qualia lineup of luxury consumer electronics, as neither of the businesses brought the company profits and market shares it wanted.

Sony, which has not posted full-year profits since its fiscal 2002, is currently in process of rebuilding itself under the lead of Howard Stringer, the company’s first chief executive not from Japan. That said, the company, which is mostly known for its consumer electronics, may perform actions not expected by general public, e.g., quit certain businesses under the pressure of other companies.

DisplaySearch, a market tracking agency, indicates that Sony had the tenth position in the global LCD monitor market in 2005 and supplied about 3.07 million LCDs. In Q4 2005, the sales volume of Sony’s LCD monitors totaled 347 thousand units in North America, which accounts for 40% of its worldwide quarterly shipments.